DIVING INTO THE "PUPPET WORLD"
by Guest Blogger: Sarah Goone, Artistic Intern
Puppet Showplace intern, Sarah Goone shares her experience working with Artist in Residence Brad Shur on his new production of "Robin Hood." The show premiered this January as part of the theater's "New Year, New Shows" series, an annual event that showcases new work by local artists. VIEW SHOW CALENDAR
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| Sarah Goone, Artistic Intern at Puppet Showplace |
Hello! My name is Sarah Goone and I am currently the
Artistic Intern at Puppet Showplace Theatre for about 7 weeks this winter. I
kicked off the season on literally the first day of the year at First Night,
where I first met Roxie, who’s acting as my supervisor while I’m at Puppet
Showplace, and many other amazing people from the theater and from other puppet
theaters. It was a crazy, long first day, but I knew right away that I was in
the right place.
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| Robin's clothes on the clothes line made by Sarah in "Robin Hood" by Brad Shur |
Right after the crazy First Night, I started working with
Brad Shur on his original production, "Robin Hood." My first assignment was to
design and sew tiny clothing items to go on a clothesline in the "Robin Hood" set. I was very grateful that he gave me so much freedom to do so. I am very experienced in sewing but have
never made a pattern before, and Brad just told me to try something out and see
what I could do. I worked for the day on some little knickers, a few shirts,
and a few pairs of socks. It really was not that difficult, and I was pretty
happy with what I had come up with, as was Brad.
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| Guard costume built by Sarah for "Robin Hood" by Brad Shur |
After that, he just kept
giving me a lot of projects to either completely construct props by myself, or
to help prime and sand different props and scenery items that were in the
process of being built. My favorite project was to completely re-sew the
Guard’s costume because it again challenged my patterning skills, but this time
for an actual puppet to wear. It also was a very challenging knit fabric to
work with, so finishing the costume felt like I had really accomplished
something great.
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| Maid Marion's mask, details painted by Sarah for "Robin Hood" by Brad Shur |
When I saw one of his shows on the opening weekend, it was so
exciting to point out all the things I had made to my roommates who came to see
the show with me. I never thought, going into the internship, that I’d be able
to say I helped build the set and even got to mend and create some costumes!
Overall, I had an amazing time working with Brad, and
enjoyed the times when we’d both be working in the same space so he could tell
me about how he got into puppetry, which is very similar to how I did, and he gave
me some neat insights into the “puppet world”. -Sarah
For more information about becoming an intern at Puppet Showplace: VIEW INFO
